Virginia Vaughn Gaston Sinclair passed into the next life on February 17th, 2025 after a courageous battle with ALS. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph (Rick) Mason Sinclair, Jr, and her parents, Virginia Dunlap Gaston and LeRoy Clifton Gaston of Memphis. She is survived by her daughter, Virginia “Ginny” Sinclair Gardner (Mike) of Nashville; her son, Hunter Sinclair (Emily) of Memphis; her brother, Clif Gaston (Patti) of Slidell, LA; and six grandchildren: Andrew and Vaughnie Gardner; Mary Bryce, Ford, Gracie, and Maggie Sinclair.
She was born in Memphis on April 1, 1952, and graduated from White Station High School. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, she worked as a nurse. She then transitioned to teaching and obtained MSN and PhD degrees from Vanderbilt. She was a beloved professor for 39 years at Vanderbilt School of Nursing where she taught in the psych-mental health masters and PhD programs. Her research focused on resilience and she developed an acclaimed resilience scale that was translated into 20 languages. She inspired others by putting this resilience research into practice in her own health battles.
